VCU Health System Authority Board of Directors
2021-2022 Members
Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held in The Honorable Benjamin Lambert, III Board Room, 1213 Clay Street, Richmond, VA.
You can view each board member's full biography by clicking their name to expand.
Delegate Bagby also serves as the Director of Operations at the Peter Paul Development Center, a Richmond East End program that provides out-of-school time programming for students, plus intentional family and community enrichment and engagement.
Delegate Bagby is a graduate of Henrico High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Education from Norfolk State University as well as a master's degree in Education Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Delegate Bagby is the chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.
Dr. Bhardwaj is an Associate Professor of Medicine. She wears many hats at VCU. Notably, she is the Director of the Cardiology Inpatient and Consultation Services, Director of Adult Echocardiography, and Director of Cardiovascular Quality Improvement and Safety. Understanding the importance and necessity of continued growth in one’s career, she is currently enrolled in the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute here at VCU. Her clinical work includes attending on the general Cardiology inpatient services and in the Coronary Intensive Care Unit, as well as participating in several outpatient clinics. Additionally, she supervises and reads echocardiograms, stress tests, and cardiac MRIs. Her priorities, in her leadership roles, include optimizing clinical operations, ensuring patient centered care, and ensuring focus on quality improvement and safety here at VCU. Dr. Bhardwaj enjoys teaching residents and fellows, as well as M2 students and was recently awarded Best Teacher in the M2 Cardiovascular course.
Mr. Bieber notes that one side of his family are farmers and the other side is filled with preachers. That is why he describes his upbringing as, “I know how to milk a cow and am comfortable in a church or a barn.” He also notes that he enjoys playing ping pong outside on windy days.
During college Mr. Bieber served both as a Congressional aide and a legislative aide in the Virginia General Assembly. He received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Old Dominion University and his Law degree from Oklahoma City University. He is admitted to practice in Virginia and South Carolina, the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, South US District Court of South Carolina, the 4th Circuit US Court of Appeals, and has waived into several other states to handle cases across the United States.
Charity work is near and dear to Mr. Bieber’s heart. He has served as Advisory Board member for Crossover Ministries and has been a Spokesman for United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and Richmond Hero, an animal protection organization. He is also active with Caritas, the National Kidney Foundation of the Virginia’s, and the Brain Injury Association of Virginia.
He also is a member of the North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS) and was recognized for his work in the dedication to advancement in the field of brain injury by receiving their Founders Award (now known as the Robert Voogt Founders Award).
Some of Mr. Bieber’s hobbies include reading, chess, exercise and watching lots of sports; that includes the Orioles, Wizards and Colts, and continues to work to not be an embarrassment on the golf course. His mom was an avid Washington Football Team fan, which also causes him to root for Washington, in memory of his mom.
He and his wife, Jackey, were married in Williamsburg, Virginia. They are passionate about organizations that focus on organ donation and transplantation. In 2008, Joel had a kidney transplant. His donor was … his wife.
In this position, he is responsible for developing and managing commercial relationships throughout Hampton Roads as well as coordinating Fulton’s Community outreach efforts in the Hampton Roads Area of Virginia.
Previously, Mr. Clark worked for BB&T where he held the position of regional corporate banker.
He is a resident of Chesapeake, Virginia and he has served as chairman of the Chesapeake Economic Development Authority, Chairman and Treasurer of the Urban League of Hampton Roads, board member for the Access College Foundation. He currently serves as Chair of the Chesapeake Land Bank Authority, Board Member of the Eastern Virginia Medical School Foundation, Board Member of the Virginia Maritime Association, Board Member of the Norfolk Forum and Treasurer of the Urban League of Hampton Roads.
medical director of VCU -Vibra Critical Care Medicine Group, she has taught trainees, Core Competencies in Critical Care Medicine, with practice-based learning in the form of bedside pulmonary and hemodynamic assessment and management. Dr. Coombs has worked to optimize respiratory protocols that improved ventilator weaning rates, decreased ventilator-associated events, hospital re-admissions and length of stay.
After her residencies in internal medicine and anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Coombs completed fellowships in critical care medicine and cardiothoracic anesthesia, practicing for more than 30 years. After having been elected as President of the Massachusetts Medical Society, owner and publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine, she served on the Committee on Publications as well as Chair of the MMS Board of Trustees.
Obtaining a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, Dr. Coombs has extensive public policy experience focusing on the impact of the ACA and MACRA (CMS-directed Merit-based Incentive Payment System) on practicing physicians and their patients. As Medicare Payment Advisory Commissioner for six years, she helped to make recommendations to Congress regarding Medicare payment to physicians, hospitals and other providers. Dr. Coombs, an AMA delegate was elected to its Council on Medical Services in June 2019. As a member of the AMA Commission to Eliminate Health Care disparities, she spearheaded the development of the Health Care Diversity Educational Toolkit, to be utilized throughout the community. Dr. Coombs is also a driving force behind the AMA’s “Doctors Back to School Program”, which teaches physicians and medical students how to encourage youth with tools to pursue health careers. Currently, Dr. Coombs is the National Medical Association, Anesthesiology Section Chair. She has spearheaded the development and organization of the Annual Scientific Convention. Locally, Dr. Coombs currently serves as a Trustee to the Richmond of Medicine and an alternate director with the Medical Society of Virginia. She has worked internationally on the International Healthcare Workforce Collaborative (IHWC) as a delegate in an effort to render expertise to address inadequate workforce.
With a passion for serving minority and vulnerable populations, Dr. Coombs has also been on multiple commissions and boards that address racial and ethnic health care disparities. As a member of the Massachusetts Special Commission on the HealthCare Payment System, she helped evaluate the health care payment system and recommend reforms that provide incentives for cost-effective and patient-centered care. As a part of Payment reform Dr. Coombs represented more 24,000 physician and help to obtain malpractice reform to decrease the practice of defensive medicine.
In 2005, Dr. Coombs received the Massachusetts Medical Society's Henry Ingersoll Bowditch Award for Excellence in Public Health, an annual award recognizing a physician’s demonstration of creativity, commendable citizenship, initiative, innovation and leadership in the public health and advocacy fields.
Prior to joining the NBA in 2014, Ms. El served as Senior Vice President of Financial Brand Marketing for Nationwide Insurance. Prior to joining Nationwide Insurance, she spent more than a decade with State Farm Insurance as Marketing Vice President where she led sales and marketing strategy for the U.S. and Canada. Earlier in her career, she held positions with Terabeam Corp. in Seattle, U.S. West Communications in Denver, and the Martin Agency in Phoenix and Richmond. Ms. El began her marketing career in 1983 with Siddall, Matus & Coughter in Richmond, VA.
Ms. El is a 1983 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Mass Communications. In 2018, she was inducted into VCU Robertson School of Media and Culture’s Virginia Communications Hall of Fame.
Ms. El currently serves on the board of the Ad Council and ChildFund International. She is a mainstay of industry publications, award lists, and conference keynotes and panels.
Dr. Ellis was recruited by Sanford Health University, (previously Univ. of SD) after residency as the Director and founding developer of the Sanford Women’s Health Plaza. Sanford Health was awarded a 400-million-dollar donation and implemented a number of new initiatives and growth strategies. While there, she was also the Deputy Director for a national women’s health project for the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health in collaboration with the Dept of Health and Human Resources.
In 2009, Dr. Ellis returned to MCV-VCU as the Director of Women’s Health services in their community clinic directly reporting to the President of MCVP. She later advanced to the role of Chief Medical Officer of MCV Physicians. At VCU Health Dr Ellis has had a range of appointments and roles including Chief Medical Officer for MCV Physicians, Executive Medical Director of Ambulatory Clinics, Interim Vice President of Ambulatory Clinics and Operations and currently Executive Director of Provider and Trainee wellness. During the 24-month interim role of VP of Ambulatory Clinics, she led the growth of ambulatory clinics to facilitate the building and opening of the Neurosurgery, Orthopedics and Wellness (NOW) facility, the Children’s Hospital of Richmond (CHoR) Pavilion, the Jackson Center Psychiatry facility, and Stony Point 9109, Surgical Specialties clinics. During her leadership the volumes of Ambulatory clinics grew from 490,000 to over 600,000 patients per year. Dr Ellis was the Medical Director of the Stony Point Women’s Health Clinic, deemed a National Center of Excellence from the Dept of Health and Human Services for over a decade. She continues her care of patients in women’s health at the downtown MCV-VCU campus.
Dr. Ellis has been involved in a list of leadership roles with the American College of Physicians. In her trainee years she was appointed the medical student and residency representative for the state of Virginia for the American College of Physician’s (ACP) Governor’s Council. She was again appointed to the council by the Governor in 2010 as a physician representative for the Richmond district. She was elected Governor for Virginia’s American College of Physicians in 2012, which is a 4-year elected role representing over 4000 internists in the state of Virginia.
Dr. Ellis has been granted a number of awards and honors including the Joseph E. Johnson Leadership award, an international award which recognizes qualities that enhance the effectiveness of health care by fostering excellence and professionalism in the practice of medicine. During her medical school and residency training Dr Ellis was awarded the Arthur Klein award for Humanism by her peers, the Housestaff Award for Distinguished Leadership, M-IV Foundations of Clinical Medicine Teaching award as well received the Dean’s Award for Leadership. In 2018 she was awarded the Excellence in Professional Service award from the Dept of Internal Medicine, an Exceptional Mentor award from the American Medical Women’s Association and was named a Master Clinician by the American College of Physicians. Most recently, she was awarded the esteemed Laureate award for the state of Virginia, for which she is in a small group of five other women awardees in Virginia.
Dr. Ellis is currently the co-chair for the Women’s Health Congress National meeting and has had that role for over eight years. She was the previous Chair of the National Centennial conference for the American College of Physicians in Boston, 2015 and national annual conference in San Diego 2017. She has chaired over 20 Scientific Annual Conferences for Internal Medicine in Virginia. She is also the selected prestigious highlight speaker for the upcoming 2021 National American College of Physicians meeting. Throughout her career she has been engaged in leadership and wellness training and was invited to participate in a yearlong Leadership Executive training program with Sanford Health and as well is a graduate of the Leadership Development Academy and Physicians Leadership MSHA program training. She was an invited participant for specialized training in wellness by the AMA and ACP and has been deemed a Wellness Champion by these organizations. She has given numerous invited seminars and lectures on both women‘s health and wellness/burnout topics at the local and national level.
Dr. Ellis volunteers as a board member for “Health Brigade”, a local free clinic for the Richmond region and the national Political Action Committee board for the American College of Physicians.
Personally, Dr. Ellis’s husband is a dermatopathologist who practices in the Richmond community and they have two adult sons. She is an avid archer, gardener, golfer and trained vocalist.
For the past 25 years, Ms. Fox has represented a range of clients in the retail sector, hospital and health systems, pharmacy benefits, alcoholic beverage control, information technology, conservation, and the environment. Having served most recently as Director of Government Affairs for Eckert Seamans law firm, Ms. Fox is now a private consultant providing government relations services for selected clients.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- Bon Secours Richmond Foundation, Board Member
- Virginia Health Care Foundation, Board Member
- Westminster Canterbury Board of Trustees and Westminster Canterbury Foundation, Former Board Member
- Richmond Chamber of Commerce’s Youth Matters Advisory Board, Former Board Member
- State Emergency Medical Advisory Council, Former Board Member
- Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Metro Richmond, Former Board Member
- Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, Former Board Member
Under Governors Gerald Baliles and L. Douglas Wilder, Mr. Gehring served as Deputy Secretary of Public Safety, where he helped facilitate the creation of the Department of Youth Services, the forerunner of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
In 1990, Mr. Gehring joined Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) as the assistant to the president for government and community relations, becoming vice president for government relations. His vast experience working with local, state, and national government leaders proved invaluable during his tenure at VCU and the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.
He played an important role in the creation of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority and worked to secure Medicaid funding for indigent health care needs.
Mr. Gehring also helped with the creation of the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park Authority and has worked with legislators, staff, and health care organizations on numerous other legislative priorities; and health policy.
Subsequent to his retirement from VCU, Mr. Gehring served as a member of the senior team that operated the Virginia State Plan for Anthem and its affiliates.
Mr. Gehring is now retired and enjoys spending time with his wife and family.
Prior to her current role as Deputy General Counsel, Hicks-Thomas served as Director-Ethics and Compliance and was responsible for the design, development, oversight and promotion of the company’s ethics and compliance policies and programs. She was also charged with discreetly and effectively leading internal investigations into allegations of misconduct and advising on appropriate corrective actions.
As Director-Diversity and Inclusion, she led the Executive Diversity Council in developing a 3-year strategy focused on increasing the diversity of the workforce through recruitment, development and retention and spearheaded a company-wide development series on the Business Case for Diversity and Inclusion. Under her leadership the employee resource group (ERG) program grew from a pilot of two groups to a program of six groups and one chapter.
She joined Dominion Energy in 2014 as a senior advisor/strategic projects manager in Administrative Services and became director-Diversity & Workforce Development in 2015. She assumed her current post in the summer of 2019.
Before joining Dominion Energy, Hicks-Thomas had a long career in the public sector culminating in her service as the Secretary of Administration for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2010 to 2014, overseeing the state agencies responsible for human resources, facilities, procurement, elections and supplier diversity. She served as deputy attorney general for transportation, real estate, environment, and technology before joining the Governor’s cabinet.
Hicks-Thomas received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Virginia and her Juris Doctorate from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary. She currently serves on the VCU Health System Board of Directors (Governance Chair), the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (State Board Chair), the YWCA Board of Governors, the Richmond Police Foundation, and the Virginia Women’s Monument Commission (past chair).
Dr. Jadhav’s professional history also includes several gubernatorial appointments and honors. He served 8 years (2004-2012) as a Board Member of the Virginia State Board of Medicine having been appointed by then- Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. In addition, then-Governor Kaine also appointed Dr. Jadhav in in 2006 to the Virginia Health Information Technology Council where he served a three-year term ending in 2009. Dr. Jadhav has also served a one-year term as a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of State Medical Boards Foundation.
Dr. Jadhav received his M.B.B.S. from the University of Madras, India, where he was awarded both a Gold Medal for Proficiency in Medicine and a Certificate of Honor for Proficiency in Social and Preventive Medicine. He completed a Fellowship in Gastroenterology at the University of Connecticut Hospital in Farmington, Connecticut. He was Board Certified as a diplomat in the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1981 and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Jadhav and his wife, Rama, reside in Richmond, VA.
Before joining VCU in 2020, Dr. Kellermann served as dean of "America's Medical School" - the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Bethesda, Maryland, which serves as the leadership academy for military health and the U.S. Public Health Service.
Dr. Kellermann previously held the Paul O'Neill-Alcoa Chair in Policy Analysis at the RAND Corporation, an independent, non-profit research organization. Prior to that, he was professor of emergency medicine and public health at Emory University, where at various points he served as founding director of the Emory Center for Injury Control, founding chair of Emory's Department of Emergency Medicine and later, Associate Dean for Health Policy at the Emory School of Medicine. He holds a BS degree from Rhodes College, an MD degree from Emory University and an MPH degree from the University of Washington.
Dr. Kellermann has authored or coauthored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications on public health, health policy, emergency care, injury prevention and military health. He is Senior Editor of Out of the Crucible: How the U.S. Military Transformed Combat Casualty Care in Iraq and Afghanistan, a medical history book released by the U.S. Government Publishing Office in December 2017.
Dr. Kellermann holds career achievement awards from two fields - injury control and emergency medicine. Elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 1999, he has served on National Academies committees addressing the prevention and control of violent behavior, the consequences of uninsurance, health promotion, biodefense, and the future of emergency care. From 2013 to 2016, he served on the NAM's Governing Council. Dr. Kellermann is board-certified in internal medicine and emergency medicine, and a fellow of both the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American College of Physicians. He is a member of the faculty of VCU’s Department of Emergency Medicine and an Affiliate faculty member in VCU’s Department of Family Medicine and Population Health.
With over 25 years of experience in Human Resources, Fay has built a career driven by a passion to create value for the associates she serves and the businesses she supports. During her time at Capital One, Fay has championed the effort to raise the minimum wage for hourly workers, helped the company achieve dollar-for-dollar pay equity across gender and race, harnessed the power of analytics to assess front line associate health outcomes and set the vision for reimagining benefits experiences for Capital One associates around the globe.
Fay serves on the Board of Directors of the Neighborhood Resource Center of Greater Fulton and is a mentor with Startup Virginia. Fay served on the Advisory Board of Fringe, a Richmond-based startup working to put benefits choices in the hands of the consumer. She attended St. John’s University in New York before she moved to Greece where she received her Bachelor of Arts from The American College of Greece.
Prior to joining Capital One, Fay held a number of Human Resources roles at organizations including Citibank, Accenture and SunTrust. She grew up in New York and now resides in Richmond, VA with her husband, Paul, and enjoy spending time exploring local restaurants, cycling on the Capital Trail and visiting local wineries.
Dr. Mathern has held numerous leadership positions since joining VCU Health in 1996, including serving as Chair of the Managed Care and Contracting committee and Perioperative Quality, Safety, and Regulatory Committee. He was the Neuroscience Leader for developing, constructing, and opening the VCU Health Neuroscience, Orthopedic, and Wellness Center. Dr. Mathern has been a member of the Professional Liability Committee since 2009 and is a member of the Board of Directors of VCU Health's self-insurance captive, Aires Insurance, Ltd.
Dr. Mathern received a BA with Honors in Chemistry and Biology in 1985 from Case Western Reserve University and an MD from the University of Cincinnati in 1989. He completed his residency and fellowship in Neurosurgery at VCU in 1995. He returned to VCU in 2017 to earn his MS in Health Administration.
Dr. Mathern currently resides in Goochland, Virginia, with his wife Kelly, who is a Clinical Research Nurse. They have two adult daughters.
Senator McDougle also operates his own law practice, McDougle Law Firm, P.C., in Hanover.
Prior to starting his own practice, Senator McDougle worked as a prosecutor for the Hanover County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, where he specialized in prosecuting domestic violence and family abuse offenders. His professional work on behalf of children grew into a personal commitment that resulted in the creation of the Hanover County Child Advocate Response Team.
Senator McDougle’s commitment to public service is influenced by a grounded and humble upbringing. At a young age, he learned the value of hard work through his mother’s small business, Sandy’s Plants.
He attended James Madison University before attaining his Juris Doctor degree at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at The College of William and Mary.
When he is not practicing law, working downtown at the Capitol, or visiting with constituents in the 4th District, Ryan spends his time with his wife Dr. Robyn McDougle and their daughter, Reagan.
Through the revenue generated in its stores, the organization is able to connect tens of thousands of North Georgians to jobs each year. Parker took the helm at Goodwill of North Georgia in October 2017. Prior to transitioning into his leadership role at Goodwill, Parker served as CEO of the largest transit systems in several cities, including San Antonio, Charlotte and most recently, Atlanta.
Throughout his career, Parker has received numerous awards and accolades for his work as an organizational leader and transportation visionary. He won Texas CEO of the Year Awards in 2011 and 2012. He was recognized as the nation’s Outstanding Public Transportation Manager by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) in 2015. METRO Magazine named Parker as one of its 20 Most Influential People of the Decade. In 2016, Parker was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC). In November the same year, he was named one of eight Public Officials of the Year by Governing magazine. In August 2017, Parker was selected as one of Atlanta’s Most Admired CEOs by Atlanta Business Chronicle.
A native of Petersburg, Virginia, Parker was appointed to the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors by Governor Terry McAuliffe in 2016. Parker received VCU’s Alumni Star Award in 2015.
Parker served on the board of directors for Goodwill of San Antonio and Goodwill of North Georgia. He remains active and engaged in civic and charitable organizations, including service on various national and local boards of directors – such as The Eno Center for Transportation and Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. Parker holds an MBA from the University of Richmond, as well as a Master of Urban and Regional Planning and a BA in Political Science from Virginia Commonwealth University.
In this role, President Rao leads a nationally premier, urban public research university with a comprehensive medical center and a Level I trauma center that is among the best in the commonwealth. VCU educates more than 31,000 students from 101 countries in more than 220 degree and certificate programs. As the largest employer in the Richmond area and sixth largest in the commonwealth, VCU’s economic impact on Virginia exceeds $6 billion annually. Additionally, VCUarts Qatar — located in Doha’s Education City — is internationally recognized for excellence in art and design.
Guided by its current strategic plan, Quest 2025: Together We Transform, the university will refocus the undergraduate student experience, strengthen educator and researcher compensation, increase national prominence through research, improve the patient experience, and meet the goal set for our largest capital campaign in university history.
Under President Rao’s leadership, VCU’s place among national research universities continues to rise. U.S. News & World Report ranks 22 graduate programs in the top 50. Consistently recognized for excellence, VCUart’s sculpture program and the College of Health Profession’s nurse anesthesia program are the best in the nation at No.1. The university is ranked no. 20 and no. 38, respectively, by the National Institutes of Health for addiction studies and neuroscience research. VCU is designated as being “Community Engaged” with “Very High Research Activity” by the Carnegie Foundation.
Classified as a Tier III institution with the highest level of financial authority by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, VCU educates and graduates more Pell-eligible and first-generation college-going students than its Tier III counterparts in the commonwealth combined.
With the addition of over 5.3 million square feet, President Rao has overseen one of the largest-ever expansions of VCU’s footprint through the construction of living-learning environments, academic meeting spaces and state-of-the-art clinical and laboratory facilities. With guidance from the university’s master facility plan, ONE VCU, improved transit access to VCU and VCU Health for students and employees has been implemented. A soon-to-be constructed STEM facility will expand existing lab space and support innovative teaching methods.
President Rao serves as chair of the Virginia Council of Presidents and the Virginia Bio+Tech Partnership Authority. He also serves as chair of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and he is its representative for the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. He is a senior advisory board member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council and is the board secretary for the American Council on Education.
President Rao has been in higher education administration for more than 25 years, beginning in California in 1992, when he became president of Mission College. At the time, he was the youngest college president in the nation. He went on to serve as chancellor of Montana State University – Northern and president of Central Michigan University.
President Rao holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida. He and his wife, Monica — a watercolorist and graphic designer — have two sons.
Mr. Siegel was named Distinguished Retailer of the Year by the Retail Merchants Association of Greater Richmond in 1991 and received the Outstanding Alumni Award from East Carolina University the following year. He has also received the Alumni of the Year Award from Leadership Metro Richmond, the Hall of Fame Award from The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club and the Flame Bearers of Education Award from The College Fund/UNCF.
In addition to serving as a former board member for the National Retail Federation, Menswear Retailers of America and the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Mr. Siegel serves or has served on the boards of a number of local organizations, including the The Community Foundation, Richmond Forum, Virginia Racing Commission, University of Richmond, The Richmond SPCA and the Virginia Holocaust Museum. He is a founding board member of The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen, and Tredegar Trust Company.
Mr. Siegel was a member of the VCU Board of Visitors and formerly served as rector. He was also a member of the VCU Health System Board. The university’s convocation and recreation center, the Stuart C. Siegel Center, is named in honor of him. Mr. Siegel received the Edward A. Wayne Medal from VCU in 2013.
Mr. Siegel lives in Richmond with his wife, Dawn.
Dr. Talegaonkar received both his M.B.B.S. and M.S. in ophthalmology from G.R. Medical College in Gwalior, India. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and is a diplomat of the American Board of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Talegaonkar is married to Dr. Sunita Talegaonkar, a pediatrician, and they reside in Richmond, Va. They have three children, a son and two daughters.
In 1995 Dr. Whitehurst-Cook was the PI on a grant which supported the development of the Inner City Rural Preceptorship program. This program has continued to grow and to be an attractor to the School of Medicine. Its new name is the Inner City, International Rural Preceptorship Program (I2CRP). The program was designed to support the interest of students in caring for underserved populations where access to care is a barrier. During the early stages of developing the ICRP Program Dr. Whitehurst-Cook completed a faculty development program in Care of the Underserved at UC San Diego in 2000.
Dr. Whitehurst-Cook has continued to work with activities that relate to health disparities. She works with the Mercy of Mission/RAM mission in Wise County, Va. each summer since 2001, since 2019 same services provided by The Health Wagon Outreach. There physicals are provided for hundreds of uninsured patients from Appalachia. Medical students accompany her on these trips. Other MOM trips to Eastern Shore, Gloucester, and Roanoke have been made over the years. In June 2012 the first Petersburg MOM at Virginia State University serviced 500 patients. Dr. Whitehurst –Cook has been on the committee to develop this project with VSU faculty who have travelled with her to the RAM clinic. This project is called VSU CARES. A new RAM opportunity for the uninsured in southside Va. was started in 2017 in Emporia, Va. each June.
In 2011, Dr. Whitehurst –Cook was asked to serve as the interim Statewide AHEC Medical Director. A one-year HRSA grant was submitted and funded for $800,000 with her as the principle investigator. Currently she serves on the Capital AHEC board and advisor to its AHEC Scholars. A 9-year stent on the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority was completed in Dec. 2021.
She has been an active member of the Virginia Rural Health Association and the Rural Health Workforce Taskforce, the Va. Academy and the American Academy of Family Practice, the National Medical Association, the Old Dominion Medical Society, and the Richmond Medical Society.
Collaborating to improve the availability of quality health to rural Virginia through supportive programs for rural students, residents and faculty has been the main focus of her career.
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